steam trains,workshops and talks

 September 25th we all went to the East Somerset railway for Geoffs train driving day that the family  had bought him for his 65th Birthday. Those overalls took 10 washings before they were clean enough to go in my washing machine.

 october 20th saw me teaching the South Cheshire Branch of the Embroiderers Guild to make silk bowls. They all did really well and the bowls were well on the way to be finished. 

 This set of bowls were made by the East Surrey Branch of the Embroiderers Guild. Another lovely set well on the way to completion. It is a shame that I seldom see the finished pieces. Please send me your photos so I can publish them.

I made this necklace using pieces of goldstone that I bought the last time we went to Arizona. Having mastered Pyote stitch I gave it a go round the stones and am really pleased with the result. The month ended with me performing with Cirencester Operatic Society in their production of the Sorcerer. It was a great show and I had a brilliant time with some lovely people.

Sorrento Holiday 2011

Hot Chillis, Cool Beer and beautiful scenery. That just about sums up our holiday in Sorrento. We had a brilliant time visiting Herculanium. Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, Naples museum, Vesuvius and Capri. The weather was a bit too hot, hotter than usual for Septemeber but we are getting used to that this year. Seems that everywhere is hotter than usual. We stayed at a lovely hotel right in the heart of Sorrento so we were able to get to my favourite haunt of the Foreigners club for drinkies!!!! Also found some nice little bars.I took the usual extreme number of photos but have come home with lots of inspiration for a set of textiles based on the murals and mosaics we saw in Herculanium and the museum.  

Workshop results from Stow on the Wold EG branch

I am always thrilled when on of my students sends me the results of her workshop with me. These photos came from Angela Gibson, a member of the Stow on the Wold Branch who attended my bowls workshop. She used her bowl to make the 'bed' for her mermaid and I think it is super. She has included so many different techniques. Well done Angela.

I have two more bowls workshops booked for this year.

playing with paint and fabric!!!

I've been having fun today with paint and fabric making some book covers or something like that. I decided to try using my embellishing machine to bond some scrim onto both lutrador and pelmet vylene. The top image is the lutrador which I then painted with silk paints, added encaustic wax and then burnt with a heat gun. the bottom one is the pelmet vylene treated in the same way. I might paint that one with Acrylic wax sealer later. I had forgotton how much fun making a mess can be. Must do it more often.

Marlborough College Summer School felt making course 2011

What a wonderful week I have just spent at Marlborough College Summer School teaching felt making from scratch. Here are some of the pieces that my students made. They were all beginners. The felt beads were dyed with tea and coffee then embellished with glass beads. The lower two photos show our display on the last day. I had four students this year but we got through a lot of techniques and they were able to make a lot of pieces. When I wasn't teaching I was singing in the singing for Pleasure group in the morning. This year we sang an Andrew Lloyd Webber selection as well as some Sinatra and a piece from Sweeny Todd which none of us had heard before. The Lloyd Webber was a challenge but we pulled it off. There were 97 singers this year and  for once a good lot of men.

Isle of Wight beetle workshop

Here are a few of the photos from my Beetle workshop given to the Isle of Wight Embroiderers. We had a lovely day making them and the results were stunning. Geoff went and spent the day on the Steam railway but came back to the hall just in time for the cakes! I had given the group a talk on the Saturday from Embroiderer to textile Artist which seemed to go down well. They were a delightful group of embroiderers. We had decided to stay on for a couple of days so spent the Sunday evening walking in Shanklin Chine. Monday it tipped it down with rain so we joined English Heritage and visited Osbourne House. It was better on Tuesday so we were able to see a bit more of the island going to Isle of Wight Glass, then Carrisbrook Castle and Alum Bay before catching the ferry home.. 

A few more photos from Marlborough Guild Workshop.

Thought that I would add a few more photos from the Marlborough Guild workshop. The photos really don't do the work justice but these three show three different designs that were being worked on. There are layered organza fabrics which can then have some layers cut away to show the fabric underneath. Once finished the purses can be embellished with beads and sequins. The designs come from my Venetian stonework Studies that I did for my HNC in stitched textiles. I wanted a small project which could be taught in a dayschool. I used the computer to work out the patterns for the purses.